Specialty Pharmacy

NEW YORK — Record-breaking attendance, a high-profile keynote speaker, four engaging panel discussions on some of the hottest issues facing the industry and exclusive consumer videos set the stage for the 13th annual Drug Store News Industry Issues Summit held on Tuesday in New York.

NEW YORK and PRINCETON, N.J. — A drug designed to prevent stroke and systemic embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation has been accepted for review by the Food and Drug Administration.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer said their investigational compound Eliquis (apixaban) was accepted for review and granted a priority-review designation. The companies submitted the application to the agency after completing two phase-3 trials, which examined the efficacy and safety of Eliquis among about 24,000 patients.

RALEIGH, N.C. — MedPro Rx president Nancy McFarlane won a Stevie Award for Best Entrepreneur, the specialty pharmacy provider said.

McFarlane won the award for the category of service businesses with up to 100 employers in the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, having led the company to multimillion-dollar sales over the past nine years, the company said. McFarlane founded the company in 2002.

LEXINGTON, Mass. — British drug maker Shire is looking to make a biotech drug for a rare genetic disorder at a new manufacturing plant in Massachusetts.

The company said Tuesday that it had filed with the Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency for approval to produce the Gaucher disease drug Vpriv (velaglucerase alfa) at its Lexington, Mass., plant. The company expects to win approval to make the drug there early next year.

NEW YORK — Pfizer will acquire a San Diego-based drug maker focused on treatments for skin scarring, the company said Tuesday.

Pfizer said it would buy privately owned Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, whose lead product, EXC 001, is in phase-2 trials for skin scarring, also known as skin fibrosis, a result of surgical procedures. There currently are no Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments to reduce scar severity. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy has appointed a new SVP to support the company's growth, the specialty pharmacy provider said.

The company announced the appointment of Elvin Montanez, PharmD, as SVP, saying he would contribute to BioPlus's development and implementation of growth strategies, noting that he had worked in leadership positions in health care for 20 years.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy announced that it now is allowing physicians to electronically submit prescriptions to its pharmacies.

BioPlus said its e-prescribing offering is designed to lessen the risk of errors, lower costs and improve compliance. The use of computerized medication order entry potentially could prevent up to 84% of dose, frequency and route errors in medication use, according to data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality,a Department of Health and Human Services agency.

FOSTER CITY, Calif. — Drug maker Gilead Sciences will acquire Pharmasset for $11 billion, or $137 per share, Gilead said Monday.

Pharmasset, based in Princeton, N.J., is a drug maker that currently has three treatments for hepatitis C undergoing clinical trials, including PSI-7977, which is in late-stage development.